Jesus’ Sabbath Troubles

Have you ever noticed how often Jesus got into trouble on the Sabbath? The gospel accounts point out numerous times that Jesus was frequently accused of breaking the Sabbath. Consider some of these examples:

We, as the church, exist in the midst of a present darkness--a struggle, not just against flesh and blood, but against rulers, authorities, and powers in the spiritual realm. We are also called to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power equipped with the full armor of God --standing firm in its truth, righteousness and peace, being always protected through faith and salvation and armed with the sword of the Spirit, the word of God (Ephesians 6).

In September 2016, the Government of Canada launched a ‘National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’, after decades of advocacy from Indigenous groups. Its mission is defined by three goals: finding the truth; honouring the truth; and giving life to the truth as a path to healing. These goals parallel the power of Biblical stories that reveal the truth of human relationships, demand that the truth be honoured, and call humanity to healing through repentance and justice.

Following months of revolutionary activity, and the blood of many political martyrs, and coming on the heels of almost a decade of faithful prayer for their country, 70,000 Christians of many denominations drew together in a night vigil of worship and prayer at the famous cave churches in Mokattam, at the heart of Cairo, calling to God, to bring transformation, hope, and renewal to the church and the people of Egypt and the Middle East. (The image above shows one of the cave churches.)

After serving more than 38 years in congregational ministry, Rev. Bill Vanden Bosch and his wife, Lyn, have been leading “disciple’s pilgrimages” to Israel since 1999. They have studied twice in Israel at Jerusalem University College and twice under the leadership of Ray VanderLaan, Director of “In the Dust of the Rabbi” ministries and the teacher of the “That the World May Know” video series. Bill has a Doctor of Ministry Degree in multicultural ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary. This post is the second of three on traveling to the land of the Bible.

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Welcome to our Speaking Up for a Faithful Budget series! Want to see other posts? Sign up here to receive them in your inbox and to view previous posts in the series. Next week we’ll be hearing about religious persecution.

Welcome to our Speaking Up for a Faithful Budget series! Want to see other posts? Sign up here to receive them in your inbox and to view previous posts in the series. Next week we’ll be hearing about abortion.

Welcome to our Speaking Up for a Faithful Budget series! Want to see other posts? Sign up here to receive them in your inbox and to view previous posts in the series. Next week we’ll be hearing about domestic poverty and hunger.